Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1887-09-14
The Lottery Ticket.


truth. Twill give it in his own Ian
guage.
Before the war, when thousands of
tickets in the Royal Havana lottery
were sold in the United States every
month, and when everybody knew the
drawings to be square, every gambler,
pugilist. thief and burglar made it
solemn duty to invest in at least one
ticket per month. I happened in
New York with my pal in May one
year, and each of US bought ticket
for the May drawing, paying therefor
FIVE dollars each. Our stay in the
city was brief. We had a job laid
out in an Eastern State, and went to
Gotham after tools to do it with.
When we purchased the tickets each
of us took the numbers of both on
slip of paper. After few days we
got down to our work. We had plan
ned to crack the safe in the Office of a
big iron mill, and we had gone over
the ground and worked out the details
until we felt sure of the Doodle. The
pay day at the mill came on the 10Th
Of the month. The money was drawn
from the bank on the 10Th. and of
course kept in the safe over night. 1t
was the night of the 10Th we tackled
it. There was a watchman on the
premises, and we bound and gagged
him and laid him in a corner and
went to work. The safes of those
days were mere shells, while the tools
were almost as perfect as now. We
had the door off in an hour, and in
ten minutes more we should have been
off with the cash, but that Internal
watchman worked himself loose while
we were busy and gave the alarm.
There was another watchman across
the street in another mill, and between
the blowing of Whistles, ringing OF
bells and shouting for help we got
ratified and started off without getting
dollar.
We ran out the back way and
through the yards, but were pursued
by three or four men, some of whom
fired at us with revolvers. We cut
for ravine, tripping and stumbling,
and in the darkness became separated.
My pal ran along the edge of it, and
was shot through the body by one of
the men, while / plunged down among
the rocks and bushes and got safe of,
though badly used up by several falls.
I did not know that my partner had
been hurt, until next morning, and I
learned of his shooting and his death
at the same tine. The body was TAX
en- in charge by the undertaken, and
l deemed it wise to leave that part of
the country. was in Boston when
| saw list of the lucky numbers for
May, and while my ticket was not
named, my partners had hit $4,000.
l compared the numbers over and
over again, and there was no mistake.
An agent in New York stood ready
to cash all prizes, but where was the
ticket' l had seen it in my partners
wallet only the day before he was
killed. As the coroner had taken
charge of the body, he must also have
the mans personel effects in his pos
session. l went over to New York
and cooked up a plan with sharp,
shrewd old woman, who at once pro-
ceeded to the place ! have thought
best not to name to you and passed
herself off as the dead mans mother.
She had everything so straight that the
coroner did not doubt her, but we
rcaped no profit from the plan. Moth
ing had been found on the body ex-
cept few keys and knife. The
man had probably thrown his wallet
away while running, that no COM
promising papers might be found.
As we did not want the body, which
Of course had been buried, the wom-
an dropped out of sight and began
a hunt for the wallet. In one disguise
and another hung around the mill
and the ravine until had looked
every foot of ground three times over.
If the Coroner hadn't the wallet some
one else had. BY a series Of lucky
turns I finally discovered that one of
the watchmen, man named Islinger,
had the wallet. / got on to this fact
just the day before he started for
New York to get the lottery ticket
cashed. He had quit his job on pre-
tense of sickness. and evidently pro-
posed to keep the matter very quiet.
! followed him to Gotham, saw him
get his cash, and then followed him
to brother of his, two hundred miles
away. He had that money in his
possession just four days"
"How did he lose it2"
"a burglar got into his brothers
house and secured it,"
"And the burglar was"
"Um !"
He was silent for a moment and
than he cs;d